TYMTRA-Archives and design practice

Module Provider: Typography
Number of credits: 40 [20 ECTS credits]
Level:7
Terms in which taught: Summer & Autumn Terms
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2022/3

Module Convenor: Prof Gerry Leonidas
Email: g.leonidas@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module aims to introduce students to the use of archives and collections as a research tool informing design practice, with particular emphasis on the collections within the Department and the University.

Aims:

This module aims to introduce students to the use of archives and collections as a research tool informing design practice, with particular emphasis on the collections within the Department and the University.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module students should be able to:

• identify and describe archival or other collected material relating to typographic design and production


• appreciate how archival drawings and related material reveal past practices


• place archival material in the appropriate technological context


• demonstrate an understanding of how past practices in?uence current design practice

Additional outcomes:

By the end of the module students should:

• be familiar with the Department and University collections


• have an appreciation of issues surrounding the handling and display of artefacts


• have gained experience in the utilisation of primary sources in teaching

Outline content:

The module is concentrated during an intensive residential period during the summer term or summer vacation of Year 1. The sessions introduce the Department and University’s typographic collections, and develop approaches to working with archival material for research and to inform design practice.

Sessions focus on:

• identifying the provenance of material


• placing material in a technological and business context


• cross-referencing drawings, drafts, and other production material with correspondence and related texts


• detecting the in?uence of type manufacture and typesetting considerations on the design process


• developing criteria for qualitative evaluation of drawings


• identifying elements that are useful in contemporary practice

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Students will be introduced to the University’s Special Collections, and work closely with the collections in the Department, with particular emphasis on the Non-Latin Collections. The seminars and tutorials will make use of the material in the collections to build an understanding of how artefacts encapsulate design processes and decisions, and develop and appreciation of the relevant technological considerations. Students will be guided through discussions to develop an understanding of how archival material can help develop criteria for quality in design, and how it can inform new work.